In a grid of resources (physical computing devices, virtual machines, client applications, service provider resources and applications, etc.) certain of these resources will host services for consumption by other resources. A non-limiting example is a resource that hosts a backup server. Conventional communications between a service provider resource (i.e., a resource providing a servicing operation) and a client resource (i.e., a resource requiring a servicing operation) consume resources, e.g. in the form of bandwidth consumed during communication between the resources. Remaining in the example of a data backup operation, the backup operation may involve network traffic which is sent from the client resource to the service provider resource.
Thus, in a typical data backup operation, computer system users may create redundant or backup copies of data stored on various storage devices, which may be accessed to restore the data in the event of a catastrophic failure. In the typical situation, backup software is contained on a computer system, and a backup operation is scheduled to occur automatically and periodically. The computer system hosting the backup software may be remote from the computer system hosting the client resource requiring backup. The computer system hosting the backup software communicates directly with a computer system hosting a client resource, such as a database or application requiring backup, and streams backup traffic therefrom, typically over a local area network (LAN). While effective for its intended purpose, such a backup operation consumes bandwidth, preventing or slowing other essential traffic.
To prevent such consumption of resources, there is a need in the art for methods and systems for providing such servicing operations which, while accomplishing the desired function, do not require transmission of data over local area networks and the attendant bandwidth consumption. Such methods and systems should contemplate automatic servicing operations, for example automatic and periodic data backup functions. Any improvements along such lines should further contemplate good engineering practices, such as relative inexpensiveness, stability, ease of implementation, low complexity, security, unobtrusiveness, etc.